


Becoming a Band

by The_Alice_Killer



Series: Connecting The World Project [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Band Fic, Eventual Romance, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27884044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Alice_Killer/pseuds/The_Alice_Killer
Summary: Demons of Despair's story. Follow 5 foreign students as they try and adjust to a Japanese school. Problems plague their path everywhere they go.
Relationships: to be added
Series: Connecting The World Project [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007130
Kudos: 2





	1. First Day of School

The school year had just begun. It was time to get back into that routine again. Most students complain about it.

"Welcome to your first day in middle school. I'll be your homeroom teacher. Can I have a show of hands for how many students went to our elementary school?"

Most students raised their hands for that. There were only a handful who didn't. Each had different reasons as to why they didn't attend the elementary school. Some were that they moved close and switched schools. Some were accepted into the school from foreign countries, which only starts in middle school. Some just decided to transfer now.

"We have a while before you have to head out to your next class. Feel free to talk to your classmates."

That was where it all began. Maria started it. She turned to who was sitting beside her.

"Hola." She paused, "Right… wrong language…"

The girl, Marissa, laughed, "It's alright. Though, you are still speaking the wrong language. English isn't spoken in this school either."

"I'm not that good with Japanese yet…" Maria pouted.

They continued to converse in English as it seemed to be easier for them to do so. Whilst they had been given Japanese lessons to help them adjust to the school, they hadn't picked up that much of it yet.

Jake overheard them talking, "You guys also speak English?"

"Yeah. It's my second language." Maria nodded.

"It's my first language." Marissa stated.

Jake smiled, "It's my second one too."

"Most kids here seem to be Japanese. We're the oddballs here."

"We should stick together then. It'll help us all if we can learn together." Maria said.

"See anyone else that looks like they're a foreign student?" Jake asked.

They spotted two others, Jack and Holly. They were brought over to join in.

"So, we're the foreigners group." Marissa stated, "What are everyone's names and nationalities? I'm Marissa and I'm English."

"Maria. I'm Spanish."

"Jake. German."

"Holly. Brazilian."

"Um… Jack… Russian." Jack was very noticeably nervous. He still had long hair and probably looked quite feminine.

"Jack. Is it a nickname?"

"N-no… I… I'm trans…" Jack decided to just get it out there now and see the reaction.

"Oh. I guess the uniform makes more sense now."

It was true that Jack had the male uniform. He had to go behind his parents' backs to do so, though. They weren’t very accepting of him.

"Well, it's fine. Don't worry about it too much, okay?" Jake smiled at him.

"Okay…"

"Do you want to… um… ah, I forgot the word again…" Maria sighed, "Make your hair shorter."

"The word is 'cut' or 'trim'. I'm going with you wanted 'cut'." Marissa said.

"Ah, that's the word. Yeah, do you want to cut your hair?" Maria repeated.

Jack nodded, "I'd like to… but I'm scared of how my parents would react."

"Hey, you won't be seeing them much. Are they coming to the teacher meeting?" Marissa asked.

Jack shook his head, "No. They can't fly. They're too busy with work."

"Then you shouldn't have any problem cutting it." Holly said, "Just let it grow out when it's a few months before they come visit and lie about wanting a bit of a shorter cut."

"I guess that might work." Jack agreed.

"You can drop by my apartment. I can cut it." Maria offered, "I've been doing hair for my younger sister for a while now."

"Alright. I'd really like that."

"Are any of you in the Blossom apartment complex?" Maria asked.

"I am." Holly said.

"I'm in the Koi apartment complex." Marissa said.

"Me too!" Jake added.

"I think I'm in that one as well." Jack said.

"Well, they aren't too far apart. It won't be that hard to visit each other often." Maria smiled, "So, see you tonight."


	2. Fitting In

The first week of school had come and gone. It was mostly uneventful. There wasn’t really much going on for the first week. Week two, however, clubs started up and were asking for people to join.

Inishi Tech very much prides itself on its clubs. Especially its high school clubs. Since this was just middle school, they had a bit more slack.

“So, you guys thinking of joining any clubs?” Jake asked.

The five of them were still in their classroom. They tended to hang out there for a while and talk.

“It’s tough… everyone else seems so good at Japanese and then there’s us…” Maria sighed.

“Yeah. I feel like it would be a big struggle to try and join a club.” Marissa agreed.

"Maybe we could make our own? I heard that's an option as long as at least five students will be members." Jack offered.

"But what type of club could we make? Hell, they even have a foreign student club, but they were all speaking Japanese…" Holly pouted.

"Maybe we should look at the list of clubs and see what's available?" Jake suggested.

"Anyone have the paper still?" Marissa asked.

"I think I do." Holly said as she dug through her bag.

Soon enough, she pulled out the paper that contained the names of all the clubs they could currently join. It was surprisingly big. Though, it did make sense. There were a lot of students at this school. It was probably one of the most prestigious schools around this area of Japan.

“There’s so many… how are we ever going to find an idea that isn’t taken…?” Maria whined after taking a quick glance at the list.

“How about we throw out ideas and see if it’s on the list?” Jake said.

“Hmm… what type of club would suit us…?”

It was a hard thing to figure out. None of them knew too much about the others yet. They had only known each other for a week as it was.

“I’m going to guess cooking club is definitely a thing.” Marissa said.

“Yep. Top of the list.” Holly nodded.

“There’s no way any sport isn’t on that list.” Jack sighed.

“There’s even an astronomy club. There is no way we will get a new club…”

Everyone fell into silence. It was obviously stressful. Students were encouraged to join a club as soon as they could. It would look good later on.

“I know last year didn’t some students create an idol group? Maybe we could make something similar to that?” Holly said.

“Like… a band?”

“A band… that sounds cool!”

“But, can we even do that? I mean, does anyone know how to play anything?” Marissa questioned.

Jack nodded, “I’ve been taking drum lesson since I was a kid.”

“I had some piano lessons before, but I stopped going after my teacher retired.” Maria said.

No one else commented. They only had two of them that could play instruments.

“Could we learn to play?” Jake asked.

“It would probably be pretty difficult, but I think we could do it if we tried.”

“Well… um, what instruments do we need to make a band?” Maria asked.

“Well, I think you need a guitarist, bassist, and drummer. Some bands do keyboard and some don’t.” Holly answered, “Anything else would be optional as well.”

“I kinda think I’d like to learn the guitar.” Jake said, “It seems really fun.”

“I don’t really feel confident with trying to learn anything…” Marissa mumbled.

“Then you can be the singer!” Maria stated with a smile.

“The singer…?” Marissa sounded uncertain.

“I’m sure you can do it.”

“I… I’ll try.”

“Then… I guess I’d be on bass.” Holly said.

“So… who wants to go ask the principal if we can do that?”

“I’ll go.” Jake offered, “I think I’m picking up Japanese pretty well.”

“Good luck.”


	3. Denied

Jake went to go talk to the principal to see if it was possible to get a club made. He was nervous to do that. He didn’t really know much about the principal yet. Was she nice? Or was she mean? He hoped for the former option.

“Hey, wait up.”

Jake paused. Maria was following him.

“Why are you…?”

“I’m the one who suggested the idea. I think I should come with you too.” Maria replied.

“Okay.”

They walked on in silence. Neither knew what to talk about. What was there to discuss right now? They didn’t want to talk about what they were doing. They would have to face their fears of being denied.

It was a thought stuck in their heads. What would happen if they were told no? What would they do then? They wouldn’t have the school to support them and give them things they needed. They would have to do everything alone if they truly wanted to do this. And they did.

They didn’t have too much time to ponder their thoughts. They were before the office. Jake nervously entered and asked if the principal was available to talk. Maria waited outside for him.

She was nervous. She had no idea what they were discussing. Part of her had wanted to go in too, but she had decided to stay back. She didn’t feel confident enough to talk to the principal in Japanese yet. Not to say Jake really was.

He was in there for a while. Maria wasn’t sure if that meant things went well or if they went bad.

When Jake walked out, it was obvious what the answer was. They had been denied. He handed Maria a paper. It was a formal statement saying they weren’t allowed to form a club around being a band. As for why, there were not reasons listed on the paper.

“I guess we should go tell them.” Maria said.

They went back to the classroom where the others were still waiting for them. They hesitated outside the door. This had not gone very well at all. They were disappointed to have been shut down so quickly.

Maria and Jake entered the room.

“So…?”

“She denied our request.” Jake said with a sigh.

Maria held out the paper for them to look at. Everyone was disappointed by the results. They had thought it was a good idea.

“So… I guess we aren’t making a band.” Holly said.

“N-no. We could still do it.” Jack protested, “It just… would be on our own.”

“And where are we going to get the supplies we need to make a band?” Marissa questioned.

“We could rent things…”

“We need money.”

“Can’t we get a job then?”

“We’re too young and half of us can’t speak Japanese well yet.”

They were having a hard time figuring out what to do. They did want to be a band, but how could they when they had no access to anything?

“Well, maybe we can figure something out.” Maria said, “Let’s take some time to think it all over.”

“Alright…”

They split up and went their separate ways back to their apartments. Everyone was trying to figure out if there was any way for them to get the supplies they would need to make a band. Whether that be actually purchasing the instruments or getting money to rent them out.

This seemed like it was going to be a tough journey already.


	4. What Can We Do?

The five of them were disappointed by the outcome of the events. They did not have the ability to be a band. At least, not one the school would accept. But, they still wanted to be a band. They all really liked the idea. But, what could they do to make that dream a reality when everything was against them?

It was a tough week. As they hadn’t joined a club, they spent a lot of time together, discussing options. There weren’t many, unfortunately. They couldn’t ask their parents to send them stuff. That wasn’t possible. They also didn’t have any extra money to buy equipment. Their allowances could not cover that at all.

“I found a studio with a pretty cheap rate.” Jack said, “We might be able to afford to rent it out for an hour or two if we combine our allowances a bit.”

“How much is it?” Maria asked.

“I think it’s like 2000 yen an hour.” Jack replied.

“That’s the cheapest around?” Jake questioned.

Jack nodded, “As far as I could tell, that’s the best deal we can get. It’s extremely cheap compared to the other places. The next price is like 7500 yen an hour.”

“I think we could do it. Do they have everything available with the room or is it extra?”

“It seemed to be all included.”

“Let’s book it then and see what it's like!”

…

They managed to get a spot three days later. They walked there together after school was over for the day. Jack went to talk to the desk as he had been the one to make the reservation. After a few minutes, they were given a key to a room to go to.

It wasn’t hard to find. And inside the room was all the instruments they needed. It looked like it was going to work out for them. As long as they could spare some money from their monthly allowances to afford sessions they could actually do it.

“So, if we’re going to be a band, we need a name.” Holly said.

“True.”

“What could we call ourselves…?”

“Well,” Marissa said, “What type of band are we going to be?”

“Name everyone’s favorite genre!” Maria stated, “Mine is rock!”

“Hard rock.” Jake said.

“Emo.” Jack replied.

“Alt punk.” Holly said.

“Um… pop?” Marissa nervously said.

“We have two descrepencies.” Jake said, “Alt punk and pop are not really rock music. I guess some alt punk does count, though.”

“Emo, really?” Maria teased Jack.

“The lyrics connect with me.” Jack defended.

“Fair enough.”

“So… would you be fine with rock or do we need to do something else?” Mari asked Holly and Marissa.

“I’m fine with whatever.” Holly replied.

“I guess I can try.” Marissa said.

“So… can we do heavy heavy or not? Cause Emo is heavy.”

“I can’t scream.” Marissa said.

“That’s fine. You don’t have to. Someone else could if we really wanted that.”

“Then, we can try.”

“Yay! So, we need a name that fits the aesthetic.” Maria said.

“Let’s think it over and discuss later. Why don’t we try out these instruments?” Jake suggested.

“Okay!”

“Sure.”

Everyone spread out and started testing them out. Some were able to play some songs and some were simply playing around with the instruments. Everyone did have varying degrees of experience, after all.

Marissa watched everyone. She wasn’t going to sing. She needed time to prepare to do that. So, she simply sat back and watched with some amusement as everyone else toyed around.

The hour went by fast. They had only booked for one for the first time.

“So, are we gonna come back here then?” Jack asked.

“I think so. It definitely seems like it will work well for us.”

“I’ll go book another session then. And pay for this one.”

After all that was done, they made their way back to their dorms. They went their separate ways and then went to their rooms. It had been an exhausting day. Everyone was tired and hungry. But, it had gone well. Now all they needed was to think of a name.


	5. Choosing a Name

It had been a few days since they had managed to create the band. They were having trouble finding a good name for themselves. They wanted something that really fit them, but they didn't know what that could be.

"We're doing emotional stuff… so maybe something to do with that? Like the word sad or depressed, maybe something heavier?"

"That seems kind of generic."

"This is tough…"

They were hanging out in the lounge of the Blossom Apartment Complex and discussing possible names for their group. It was not going very well.

"I mean, that idol group named themselves after where they met. Maybe we could mention we're all from different places in our name?" Marissa offered as her suggestion.

"Like the words foreigners?" Maria questioned.

"How about something with a darker meaning? Like devil or demon or monster?" Jack suggested.

"I kind of like the demon one." Jake said.

"Yeah, that would be cool to have in our name."

"But what else could we add to it? Just calling ourselves Demons or something seems too bland still?" Maria sighed.

At least they had made a little bit of progress on the name. They finally had something to work off of. It made things slightly easier for them now.

"If we want a heavy sounding name… what words could fit…?"

"I had this fake band I used to play as with dolls that I called Despair. What if we combined the names together? Demons Despair?" Maria suggested.

"Demons of Despair?" Holly offered a slight change to the name.

"Ooh! That sounds cool!" Jack stated.

"It does have that heavy vibe to it." Marissa agreed.

"So, is our name going to be Demons of Despair then?"

"Anyone have any objections?"

No one said anything. That became their name now. It was one step closer to finally becoming a band.

"Now, we need to make a social media account. To give us a boost." Maria stated, "Who wants to be the one to create it?"

"I can." Holly said, "I'm pretty good with that type of stuff."

"Alright, we'll leave that to you then."

"How should we introduce our band to the world? What should I write as our greeting?" Holly asked.

Everyone pondered the question. They wanted to make a good first impression, so they had to choose their words very carefully. That was hard to do.

"We are Demons of Despair. Our goal is to be real with our music and show our true feelings behind every word." Jack said, "How about that?"

"I like it." Marissa commented.

"It does sound pretty good. Short and to the point." Jake nodded.

"Alright. I'll text you guys the login once I finish creating it then." Holly said.

"Awesome! See you guys tomorrow."

"Bye!"

"Goodnight."


	6. Getting More Popular

A month had gone by before any of them had noticed. They were improving every day. It was just hard only being able to rent the instruments a few times a week. It was a setback that they all just had to work with.

They had not made it very far in terms of online status. They had maybe ten followers on their page for the band. It didn't seem anyone was interested in them yet. Granted all they had released on it was just pictures of them.

That was why they were having a meeting. They wanted to grow, but they needed to find ways to do that.

They met up in the park one days after classes had ended. There, they started their discussions.

"What are we not doing that other groups are doing?" Maria asked.

"Why don't we take a look at other groups' pages?" Jake suggested, "See what all they post."

"What groups should we do?" Holly asked.

"How about Aquarium Idols?" Jack offered, "They've only been around for a little bit. Let's see what they post."

"Good idea!"

Holly was the one who navigated the page. They looked through all their posts and tried to see what they could learn from it.

"We may need to try and release some music. A lot of these are songs. Even if just snippets of them." Marissa commented.

"But we haven't found any type of sound that works." Maria complained.

"We should try and focus on that more then." Jake replied.

"This is tough…" Maria sighed.

"Well, if we want to get out there we need to show what we can do." Marissa stated.

"Anything else we could do?" Jack questioned.

"Doesn't look like it. We don't have enough people to do Q&As with." Holly said.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Hmm… could we try and write lyrics? Maybe that'll make it easier to find a good vibe for the music?" Jake suggested.

"We've never written lyrics before…"

"Well, if we want to be a band that is kinda what we have to do."

"True."

…

The next day they had a scheduled time for practice. They didn't start right away as usual. They had things to talk about first.

"So… how are the lyrics coming along?"

Maria and Jake had offered to write the lyrics together. They were having a tough time.

"We got the chorus and part of the first part done." Jake replied.

"Can we see it?"

The five of them looked over the lyrics. They weren't the best, but it was a start. They could revise it once they got the rest written down.

"Hmm… what type of sound would suit those lyrics the best?"

That was the next question to answer. What sound should this song have? No one had an answer to that question yet.

"Shall we just play different chords and see what we get?" Holly suggested.

"We can try." It wasn't like there were any better ideas going around.

Jake played a few different chords on the guitar, trying to see if any just clicked with the lyrics they had already. He hit one and stopped. That one sounded cool. He played it again.

"I like how this one sounds." Jake stated.

"Play it again. I'll try and match it on the bass." Holly requested.

It wasn't long before Holly had a similar chord. When played together they made a sound that flowed together.

"I think we're getting somewhere." Maria smiled in excitement, "I'm going to try and see what I can do too."

"Guess I'll do the same." Jack said.

The two of them tested out different notes and beats until they found a sound that worked. The four of them played together. It worked. This sound was good. It flowed. They finally had something to work off of.

"We did it! We have something!" Maria was the most excited about it.

"Let's write these down so we can work on them." Marissa pulled out a notebook.

Everyone was happy. They were finally starting to get into being a band. They proved they could make songs. It was a happy moment for them all. Now to just get an entire song out of it.

…

Due to the time they had on the instruments, it took another two weeks to finish the first song. But they did it. They recorded it and were just tuning everything to sound better.

"Should we post a teaser of the song?" Holly asked, "To get people excited?"

"Maybe we should." Jake agreed.

"Ooh! Can we try and make a music video?" Jack asked, "I've always wanted to do that."

It seemed he was very excited over this too. After all, he had always wanted to be in a band. This was a dream come true.

"Why not?" Marissa replied, "With how long it took to write the song, we need a break before trying to make another one."

"Hmm… what could we do for a video?"

"Why don't we all write down ideas and then see what we came up with?" Maria suggested.

"Sure!"

"Sounds good to me."

"Good idea."

But first, to release the song. A music video could come later on. They needed this out first. So, after the mixing and tuning was done, they posted a preview and set the full release date three days later.

No comments came in on the post. It was a little disappointing, but they did have very few followers. Hopefully this song could get them some more. All they wanted to do was grow.

After the three days, they posted the full song. They got some likes, but no one commented on the song. No feedback was given. No one said they liked it. It hurt. They put so much effort into this and no one was really acknowledging it.

"Maybe the music video will help?"

That was all they could hope for. If not, their dreams were a lot farther out of reach than they thought.


End file.
